Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A Creed To Live By

A Creed To Live By

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

~
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.
~
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.
~

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.
~

Don't give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
~

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.
It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other.
~

Don't be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
~
Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love.
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;
and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
~

Don't dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope;
to be without hope is to be without purpose.

~
Don't run through life so fast that you forget
not only where you've been, but also where you're going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored
each step of the way.



~ Nancye Sims ~
You can’t design your life like a building.
It doesn’t work that way. 
You just have to live it and it will design itself. 
Listen to what the world is telling you what to do and take the leap.


People say that it’s the bad memories that cause the most pain, 
but actually, 
it’s the good ones that drive you insane. 


If you want me in your life, put me there. 
I shouldn’t have to fight for a spot.


There is a difference between love and like, 
and wrong and right. 
Never run if you’re not ready to step. 
And never forgive if you’re not ready to forget.


 We are born for wonder, for joy, for hope, for love, to marvel at the mystery of existence, to be ravished by beauty of the world, to seek the truth and meaning, to acquire wisdom, and by our treatment of others to brighten the corner where we are.


God gave me five fingers for a reason. 
My pinky is for my best friends, and our promises that will never be broken. 
My ring finger is for that special someone, and proof that we will be together forever. 
My middle finger is for that boy who has pushed me too far, and to show him how I feel. 
My pointer finger is to silence them all. 
And my thumb is for everyone- to let them know that I’m gonna be okay! 
No matter what.


Because, 
it’s only when you’re tested that you truly discover who you are. 
And it’s only when you’re tested that you discover who you can be. 
The person that you want to be does exist, 
somewhere on the other side of hard work and faith, and belief 
and beyond the heartache and fear of what life has.


Maybe my life hasn't been so chaotic, it’s just the world that is and the only real trap is getting attached to any of it.


You’re only as tall as your heart will let you be. 
And you’re only as small as the world will make you seem. 
And when the going gets rough and you feel like you may fall, 
just look on the bright side. 
You’re roughly six feet tall.


Sometimes, it’s like people are a million times more beautiful to you in your own mind. 
It’s like you see them through a special lens- but maybe, if it’s how you see them, that’s how they really are.


What most people need to learn is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things. 


When you love people and have the desire to make a profound, positive impact upon the world, then you will have accomplished the meaning to live.


There are some things in life that don’t go the way you want them to or the way you think they should. 
But you can’t dwell on these because you’ll miss out on other opportunities. 
Don’t give up on something just because you don’t think things will work, 
you won’t know unless you give it a try. 
But don’t hold on to something that left a long time ago, 
because sooner or later, you’ll realize some things just aren't meant to be. 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Car + Winter = Frustration

Not my usual blog posting but thought I would share a list of tips I came across on another blog. Let me know if you try any of them out & how they worked for you!! 

Car + Winter = Frustration
Winter Tips


*Ice-proof your windows...with vinegar!*
Frost on it's way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they'll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water---preventing water from freezing!



*Squeak-proof your wipers...with rubbing alcohol!*
Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity. 




*Prevent car doors from freezing shut...with cooking spray!* 
Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber!


*De-ice your lock in seconds...with hand sanitizer!* 
Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems solved! 


*Fog-proof your windshield...with shaving cream!*
Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers! 


*Keep your headlights clear...with car wax!* 
Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights - lasts 6 weeks. 



Friday, January 20, 2012

Randomness...




The unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because it's only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. You can change the way people live their lives. That's the only lasting thing you can create.- Chuck Palahniuk


Build a masterpiece 
History starts now.


The only decision left is the one I need to make with myself, to stop running once and for all. I mean, I know who I'm supposed to be, I've always known. But, then the fear takes over: the free floating, anxiety ridden fear in the pit of my stomach that makes me run. 


You don’t have to be perfect to belong in this place. 
You don’t have to have all the answers, or always know the right thing to say. 
You can climb the highest mountain, if you want. 
Or quietly imagine that you might, someday. 
You can take chances, or take safety nets, make miracles or make mistakes. 
You don’t have to be composed at all hours to be strong here. 
You don’t have to be bold or certain to be brave.


You don’t have to have all the answers here, or even know who you want to be.


This is to the nights when you dealt with more drama than you wanted to, because you're a nice person. To the nights that you 
drank too much and made mistakes that no one forgets for months and months. This is to the nights that you hooked up with that guy, feeling used and alone after. To the nights you would've rather stayed home, watching movies but instead got dressed up in clothes that weren't as comfortable as sweatpants, went to that party you didn't really want to be at, to find the boy you like there with some other girl. To the nights that you can't wait until everybody grows up, because you're tired of them all judging you. To those nights that came too soon.


I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.


We will always want something more than what we've got. But face it, whatever happens, happens. And whatever we are given, we need to hold onto that with all of our might. Because that's it. That's what we were given, what we've been trusted in to keep, to treasure, to take care of and to love with all of our hearts. We need to appreciate every little thing we've got because, well, it's all we've got. It's okay to dream, but first you need to treasure reality in all its beauty.


Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s 
kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention 
is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager. 
-Susan Sontag


I wish someone would tell me something incredibly profound. I wish my heart would beat beat beat in time with theirs and things I want to say wouldn't get caught in my throat like my hair gets caught in my fingers and ties itself into knots. I wish the voice in my head didn’t say the things it does, because of all the people I can trust in the world I shouldn't be one of them. That's why I listen to music louder than the sounds of the late-night television programs like poker competitions and bad films starring bad actors. And in the middle of the cacophony of sounds the only thoughts I can hear are the singer's, the whisperer's, the poet's, infinitely better and wiser. Wiser even than the stars. I bet they don't trust themselves either. I bet lots of people don't when they've fallen down the rabbit hole and felt a heartbreak or three. Boys didn't break my heart you know, I did. I break it all the time. I'm breaking it right now and I don't even know why.


I believe that we are who we choose to be. 
Nobody's going to come and save you, you've got 
to save yourself.


We learn to deal with things our own way. A lot of the time people want to help, but when they try to, it just makes the whole thing more upsetting cause then you realize you can't be helped. Maybe you're trapped in this mess, and all you need to do is just take a step away from the situation, and look at it from the outside in, and realize, 'Hey, this is my life - take it or leave it.' 


The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you are alive, and die only when you are dead. To love, to be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar disparity of the life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.— Arundhati Roy 


"It’s laughing with your friend at a time when you shouldn’t.
It’s the sweat in your palms wanting to know someone you see
and the pit in your stomach when they actually see you.
It’s being touched by hands that aren't your own.
It’s the thrill of an escape that almost wasn't.
It’s the embarrassment you feel, naked for the first time.
It’s helping a friend find something they lost.
It’s a smile, a joke, a song. 
It’s what someone does that they like doing.
It’s what someone does that they like remembering. 
It’s the thinking of things you may never do 
and the doing of things you may never have thought.
It’s the road ahead and the road behind. 
It’s the first step and the last and every one in between, 
because they all make up the good life." 
-The Good Life.


"Are there not little chapters in everybody's life, 
that seem to be nothing, and yet affect all the rest of the history?" 


After awhile you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul 
and you learn that love doesn't mean possession and company doesn't mean security. 
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises. 
You begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead 
with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child. 
And you learn to build your roads today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans 
and futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight. After awhile you learn that even sunshine 
burns if you get too much. So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul 
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. 
And you learn that you really can endure, 
that you really are strong, 
and you really do have worth, 
and you learn. 
-Veronica A. Shoffstall


I would love to meet people that have their mind straight and don't bring any 
problems into my life. I want to meet more people that think about the same 
things as I do. Most of all I want to meet more people with good hearts and 
good brains.


Passion. it lies in all of us, sleeping, waiting. and though unwanted, unbidden it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. it speaks to us, guides us. passion rules us all, and we obey. what other choice do we have? passion is the source of our finest moments. the joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief. it hurts, sometimes more than we can bear. if we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. but we would be hollow. empty rooms, shuttered and dank. without passion, we'd be truly dead.


We have been to the moon, 
we have charted the depths of the ocean and the 
heart of the atom, but we have a 
fear of looking inward to ourselves because 
we sense that is where 
all the contradictions flow together.


Some things don't last forever, but some things do. Like a good song, or a good book, or a good memory you can take out and unfold in your darkest times, pressing down on the corners and peering in close, hoping you still recognize the person you see there.


May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good 
madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who 
thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art-- write 
or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere 
in the next year, you surprise yourself. 


"We're all strangers connected by what we reveal, what we share, what we take away--our stories. I guess that's what I love about books--they are thin strands of humanity that tether us to one another for a small bit of time, that make us feel less alone or even more comfortable with our aloneness, if need be."


A hug can turn your day around.
It's like an emotional heimlich.
Someone puts their arms around you,
And they give you a slight squeeze.
And all of your fear and anxiety comes
Shooting out of your mouth.
And you can finally breathe again. 


Thursday, January 12, 2012

What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger!

Did calling me stupid make you feel smart?
Did calling me ugly make you feel handsome?
Did calling me useless make you feel more useful?
Did calling me weak make you feel strong?
Did making me feel worthless create feelings of self-worth for you?
Did hurting me ease the pain you felt inside?
Did making me feel like less of a person make you feel like more of a person?
ALL of the years you spent trying to make me believe I was someone to be despised. That I was weak, stupid, worthless, unlovable….and I believed you, sometimes I still do to this day. You said that no one would ever love me and that no one could ever want me in their life because of who I was. My problem lay in that I believed YOUR version of who I was when in fact I am not that person.
I will never be able to look myself in the mirror and say that I am beautiful, that simply won't happen. But I know that I am a good person with a good heart and I am surrounded by wonderful people in my life who love me, believe in me and accept me just for who I am…. something you said I would never have. Makes me wonder as to the kind of people you have in your life right now?
You may have broken me, you may have hurt me physically, emotionally and mentally but they are all things that can be fixed. I may still be broken in many ways but when I’m done, I will be better, stronger than ever before. Because for every day, every week, every month that you kept me locked away, hidden and scared and bruised....I will live another day, another week, another month, happy, content, safe and thriving.
It's taken me a long time to be able to forgive you but I do and do you know why? Because of you, I am the person I am today. I found the strength to survive what you did to me and that same strength is what is getting me through right now.